As recent as yesterday, an official announcement from the Rwandan embassy in Singapore informed all Rwandans in Brisbane, Queensland, of the pending visit of his Excellency Ambassador Uwihanganye to Australia.
In the announcement, Ambassador Uwihanganye invited all Rwandans in Brisbane and Queensland at large to come to the Queensland Multicultural Centre in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, where he was going to address them and have a dialogue with them.
The excitement of this visit was however short lived, as many Rwandans attended the meeting venue and the Ambassador failed to show up. It was later revealed that a similar first meeting was secretly held at the crack of dawn today at Mount Tamborine rainforest which is roughly about 62kms away from Brisbane. Eyewitness report that in attendance were RPF cadres who are members of the so-called Rwandan Diaspora of Qld, a body whose members are sworn RPF cadres with a mission to destabilise resettled refugees in Australia who don’t support the Rwandan government. Furthermore, it was revealed that the then expected meeting was taking place at Novotel Hotel, 38 Cordelia St, South Brisbane.
Following a long wait at the meeting venue in Kangaroo Pt, Brisbane, it became clear that the Ambassador was not going to turn up. What was a clear frustration by all present was made worse by the news that an alternative meeting had already taking place at Novotel Hotel, 38 Cordelia St, South Brisbane.
Disappointed; Rwandans decided to register their displeasure through peaceful demonstration where they called upon the Ambassador to be dismissed for sowing divisions among Rwandans in Queensland and Australia at large.
“It is very disappointing for the Ambassador not to turn up to a meeting his office or he himself called”, said Theogene Ngabo who is the President of the Rwandan Association of Queensland Inc. “People were keen to ask important questions but were denied the chance by Ambassador’s absence. I don’t think he is fit for the job and he should be dismissed for this utter failure and the fact he is sowing divisions among our community here”, he added.
For most Rwandans around Brisbane, the recent invitation by the Ambassador was more of a surprise because in the past, similar invitations were only tendered to a selected few who are workers or sympathisers of the government in Kigali. Providing an open platform for all Rwandans to meet and dialogue is not something the current leadership in Rwanda encourages and there is every chance Ambassador Uwihanganye might have overstepped his bounds by extending the invitation to all Rwandans.
At the time of writing, peaceful demonstrations have just concluded at Kangaroo Point and there is no doubt the Ambassador will receive the message of the guests he did not want to meet. Multiple messages and concerns were voiced out including among other things the need for Australian government to stop Rwanda from menacing Australian citizens of Rwandan origins; to immediately stop killing, jailing of innocent Rwandans most especially political dissidents and journalists; to recognise the genocide of Hutus and stop using and stifling the genocide of Tutsis for political gains and to stop insinuendos about the genocide of Jews also for political gains.
The demonstrators also called upon the Australian government to consider investigating the cause of death of Michael Hourigan, an Australian war crimes investigator whose extraordinary work exposed possible complicity of the current Rwandan government in the 1994 genocide. Mr Hourigan is reported to have died of brain haemorrhage but former RPF insiders have expressed a different view alleging the Rwandan government might be behind his death as is the case with multiple other prominent Rwandan dissidents who have died in very unusual circumstances.
In the meantime, we are still doing our investigative work to uncover what was discussed in the early morning meeting Ambassador Uwihanganye had with RPF cadres. Below are some of the photos during his visit in Australia and an invitation flyer for all Australians of the Rwandan heritage to meet Ambassador Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye at 102 Main Street, Kangaroo Point.
Calling all Rwandans living in Queensland | The High Commission has the pleasure to invite you to an interaction session with High Commissioner Jean De Dieu Uwihanganye during his visit to Australia. pic.twitter.com/0c5kWiaHOs
— Rwanda High Commission in Singapore (@RwandaSingapore) March 28, 2022
By: Concern Spectator from Rwandan Community.
